“Today, in our field, there is so much talent and recognition that we are reaching a saturation point. An artist should no longer strive only for breathtaking craftsmanship; he should, instead, try to help us live better, either by dressing the wounds that are constantly being opened by society, or by offering solutions to get us out of the mess we’re in…But it’s going to be difficult and we have a lot of work to do.” - Jean 'Moebius' Giraud

Sunday, August 22, 2010

This woman's full name is SHANNA O'HARA PLUNDER. She used to wear a fuzzy, one-piece bathing suit with leopard prints on it and fought hyenas with a spear.

Since her introduction I'm guessing she's become allergic to leopard prints, or clothes, or both because now she's wearing less and less of them. So she's now opted for wearing dinosaur skins instead. That's right, I said dinosaurs.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

We went to the art store and he found one that was the perfect dimensions and perfect cover stock. Everything was to his liking - except for the first page which already had a little squiggle on it from some inconsiderate bastard who drew inside the book and didn't bother buying the item. So as best as we could we tried to find another one, but I guess this specific sketchbook was the last one in stock in the whole store. To be honest, we didn't really ask an associate (which I think we should've done before buying this one) to check if they had them displayed elsewhere, but whatever - we went with the one with the blemish.

Sam was *this* close to not purchasing it at all, until I promised him that I would draw something on top of the little pencil smudge in order to cover it up. I also told him that for all the trouble I'm going through in order to cover up such a hideous scar, he should open up a Twitter account so I can berate him if he doesn't draw in this brand spankin' new sketchbook he made me doodle a sketch in. So, being a man of his word, Sam now has a Twitter account. You can start following him HERE.

Above was Sam's sketch request for one of his all time favorite characters from one of his all time favorite games: Samus from Metroid and Metroid Prime. I know that not every detail on here is character accurate but whatever. It's done. And it served its purpose - I managed to swing ol' Sam away from the stupidity that is Facebook and now he has to deal with a social network portal that limits him to a 140 character commitment. If you know Sam as I do, Twitter is so much more of a better fit for him.

Okay, more later. Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.

PS - This new sketchbook gave me a paper cut that stings like hell right now because it's getting infected. Stupid Sam Liu and his stupid sketchbook that I have to cover up a stupid random doodle on with a stupid sketch of stupid Samus.

Friday, August 20, 2010

The plan was to have this drawing colored and made into a print ready for BALTIMORE COMIC CON where I will be in attendance next weekend. Well, that was the plan anyway. But with my unforgiving deadlines and schedule, this image will just have to wait another day to see some color on it. Sorry, all. At least now you can see it for free on this here blog!

Have a good weekend and I hope to see you at the show.

BTW, I will be putting up about a half dozen NEW images (maybe more) in the next few days, of which the originals will be for sale at the Baltimore show - or even before hand if you're so inclined to purchase it ahead of time. For inquiries regarding pricing and availability of the originals, please contact JASON SCHACHTER of ESSENTIAL SEQUENTIAL and he'll gladly walk you through the process of acquiring it for your collection.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

I had to be very quiet about this image and not post it right away because it was commissioned as a present for someone and (as I understand it) the recipient was a loyal visitor to this blog. Based on his e-mail thanking me after receiving it, the cloak and dagger was well worth it. That makes me very happy that they're so happy.

A while ago I was mentioning on TWITTER that I watching this movie for specifics as well as inspiration. The meeting between the title character on NEVER ENDING STORY (Atreyu) and the Gmork really left an impression on me as a child. I recall that the creature in the shadows with its glowing eyes scared the bejeezus out of me back then. But let's take that with a certain grain of salt - I was afraid of The Count from Sesame Street too. Also, the premise of the movie was really cool. I'd always wished that whatever I was reading was happening someplace in actual time; I guess it was all due to my overactive imagination.

Anyway, enjoy.

OH! Quick thing, as I was watching TRON the other day, playing in the background scene in Flynn's arcade, is the main title song for Never Ending Story! How awesome is that?! Well... not really awesome unless you're a big nerd for both films like I am.